Slow Food Eugene

A word and request from our friends at the Deck Family about the terrible fire that destroyed their barn:

On the evening of Sunday, November 9th the Deck Family Farm experienced a setback when our barn caught fire. By the time the local firefighters arrived, the flames engulfed the building and all we could do was keep it from spreading.

We lost the building, some equipment, our bull, and two calves, but we are thankful beyond belief that no family, interns, or employees were in or near the barn when the alfalfa hay inside began to burn.

We suspect it was the hay that spontaneously combusted on its own due to some composting in the stacks, but we can’t know for sure. Unfortunately, parts of the building were brand new, and the replacement costs will far exceed what our insurance company will cover.

For now, we’re going about business as usual with some help from neighbors and use of other facilities. But some of you have asked if there is anything you can do to defray our immediate costs or to help with clean up and rebuilding efforts. We would appreciate any help from our community and customers as we work to bounce back and replace some of the uninsured items like the manure spreader, loader, spin spreader, stanchions and panels.

For this reason we set-up this fundraising tool through YouCaring.com. It’s free to use and anything helps.
We’ll keep this site and our own site updated with more information
.
It is a time to give thanks,
Christine & John Deck and the Deck Family Farm “Farmily”

We’ve added four new sponsors this month. Marche Restaurants, Toby’s Family Foods, Capella Market, and Sweet Creek Foods have been fixtures on the local food scene for years. They have all been early advocates for good, clean and fair food. We welcome their support and are happy to have them in our family of sponsors.

Take a look at the entire list of sponsors in the right hand column. These local businesses are supporting Slow Food Eugene’s fight for good, clean, and fair food. Their help is vitally important to our efforts to support organizations like the School Garden Project, the Farm to School Program, and our participation in Terra Madre, the international gathering of Slow Food delegates. Please show your support by clicking on their ads and patronizing their businesses.

We encourage others of you to help us out. This is a great opportunity to get your business name out to our large and growing newsletter subscriber list. Join the sponsors listed along the right hand column. Not only are they supporting good, clean, and fair food, but they are letting our subscribers know that they are friends of Slow Food Eugene.

By Jackie Variano, Slow Food member and Special Contributor This article is part of a series highlighting our sponsors’ contributions to the community.

Although it’s now a part of our daily digest of words, in 1982 the word “organic” didn’t hold much weight, and definitely wasn’t part of the mainstream.

Enter the Organically Grown Company, which was started in 1982 as a growers’ cooperative to mitigate competition between struggling organic farmers.
“Bringing organic produce to the people” has become their unofficial slogan, according to Tonya Hayworth of OGC.

“We are actively involved in environmental and agricultural politics and walk the talk of sustainability. OGC works to not only be a player in the discussion about the big issues. We are committed to pushing ourselves to always do more, be more, expect more-in terms of our values, the values of our growers and customers.”

They source 35 percent of their products directly from PNW farms, and contribute to Slow Food’s goal of good, clean, and fair in a number of ways.

“Organically Grown and Slow Food are very much aligned through the basic fundamentals of our business structures. OGC is an employee and grower owned organization that prides itself on not taking the easy road with everything from grower relations to distribution,” says Hayworth.

They’ve partnered with B-Line delivery in Portland in order to still access smaller, centrally located customers through a cleaner transportation model.
In addition, they’ve made great strides to give back to communities.

“Since 2005, we have purchased our bananas exclusively from Organics Unlimited GROW program, resulting in almost $700,000 contributed back to the communities where the fruit is grown. We contribute at least 2.5% of our previous year’s profits to 501c-3 non-profit organizations that are also in alignment. Our efforts towards a more sustainable food system are continual,” says Hayworth.

How can you support OGC? Let us count the ways.
“Buying organic (& LADYBUG brand) produce is a wonderful direct way to support our business, but our involvement in the communities we serve and the organic trade expands well beyond that.”

“We host many events including our big, biennial Organicology conference, Organically Grown in Oregon Week and more that folks can be a part of. We are very active in political efforts to keep our food supply, farmland, water, seed, food safety and so many other issues and appreciate everyone that takes the time to write a congressman and vote on these topics.”

And no matter how big OGC’s world view is, they always honor their commitment to small and local.

“Our customer base has evolved at the same time we see many larger scale growers transitioning to organic growing practices. We see balance in that equation through staying strong to our roots; we still work with many very small scale growers and deliver to many of the same small Co-Ops and Independent Retailers that we did when the company was formed,” she says.

Be sure to find OGC through social media channels like Twitter and Facebook to be kept up with all events and news.

When you buy Farm to School Fuji apples at participating retailers in the Eugene area including Kiva, Friendly St. Market, Sundance, Cappella, Red Barn, New Frontier and Eugene Local Foods, profits from the sale will support the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition’s Farm to School Program.
For more information: click this link.

October 10, 1-3pm–Bubbles, Bivalves, Birds and a Bake Sale @ Meriwether Wines. Don’t miss this opportunity to share an afternoon of jazz and great food at Domaine Meriwether in Veneta. We’ll be drinking their renowned bubbly and eat oysters prepared by Adam’s Sustainable Table restaurant. Music will be provided by Ken Luker and Paul Biondi Jazz.

You’ll be able to satisfy your sweet tooth at our Bake Sale. Our theme is pies and tarts. Local bakeries will be highlighted, but you can contribute, too. Email Florence Luker for information. You can also call 509-680-1547.

For those who fancy our fine feathered friends, there will even be a pre tasting bird walk with Davey Wendt–”Birds of the Winery Walk & Identification” from 10am – 12pm.

The price for all this is $25. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets. Search for Slow Food Eugene.

What an opportunity to taste 20 or more pears that are little known to our commercial markets, enjoy a sweet or savory dish made from pears and help select a pear candidate for the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste!

Food lover trivia question: Where is the most diverse collection of pear cultivars on earth? If you answered, “Right under my nose,” pat yourself on the back. If you answered, “No clue,” you are in for a treat. Join Slow Food Eugene and Slow Food Corvallis in discovering and tasting a sample of the more than 2,000 varieties of pear cultivars lurking unnoticed and unrecognized in the USDA’s Pear Genebank in Corvallis. Our efforts will be used in the search for Ark of Taste candidates. Assisting our exploration will be USDA Corvallis staff members and an appropriate representation of wines, cheeses, and chocolates. Brindiamo Catering & Ciao Restaurant will provide special sweets and savories featuring the pears.

The Genebank’s goal is to promote cultivation of fruit beyond the mere six varieties which now account for most of the commercially grown pears in this country. This effort dovetails with Slow Food USA’s efforts to collect heirloom species of foods which are submitted to the US Ark of Taste. The Ark is an international catalog of foods that are threatened by industrial standardization, the regulations of large-scale distribution, and environmental damage. Along with tasting, USDA experts will describe each of the species and its specific history as well as the current effort to promote their sustainable existence. Although the tasting is important for submitting a species of pear to the Ark, other key factors might come into play in selecting a candidate. Your vote will be important when deciding whether to submit a candidate for the Ark.

This event will take place at the University of Oregon Urban Farm. The Farm is an acre and a half garden/farm located just north of Franklin Boulevard on the bike path to Autzen Stadium. The Urban Farm is an outdoor university classroom where students learn to grow their own food organically and sustainably. The Urban Farm is enjoying its’ 26th anniversary this year.

Important Details:

Where: University of Oregon Urban Farm, 1475 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene. The Farm is between Onyx and Agate Streets and is behind Looking Glass School. Park in the Looking Glass lot or in UO Parking Lot 5a, just to the west.

Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010

Time: 2-5 pm.

Tickets: $8 adults, kids under 12 are free; Wine will be available for purchase by the glass. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets. Select “Search Events” and enter Slow Food Eugene. Please help Slow Food Eugene fund our important community projects. We have provided special pricing at Brown Paper Tickets so you can add an additional $10 per ticket. Your support will go to the School Garden Project, the Farm to School Program, and our Terra Madre delegates.

Tickets are now on sale for the fourth annual One Field Meal–August 22 at the Polyrock Ranch and Lost Creek Farm.

We are limiting ticket sales this year, so be sure to get your tickets early.

The host farm this year is the Polyrock Ranch and Lost Creek Farm on Territorial Road. Alan and Deborah Mattson produce beefalo, beef and dairy products. David Desmond of Lost Creek Farms grows a great variety of organic produce on their land. And the ranch is drop dead gorgeous. You’re gonna love this place. All of the food will come from this one farm. The meal will be truly delicious and the company (you and your friends) will make it even better.

The meal will feature Beefalo. The hybrid breed of Beefalo combines the best qualities of bison and beef cattle. Beefalo offers the hardiness of bison with the quality beef of cattle that results in the leanest, healthiest meat around. We’ll send you a complete menu soon.

This year we have two chefs—Shane Tracey of Nib and John-Patrick Downey-McCarthy of Devour. Shane and his wife Tiffany have quickly become leaders in Eugene food culture. Their exquisite dessert creations are bite-sized pieces of art. And their savory menu at Nib is a great companion to their thoughtful wine pairings. http://www.nibdesserts.com/

John-Patrick Downey-McCarthy has made Devour one of the freshest, most interesting restaurants in Eugene. I can only give you his web address—because he has no street address. His refurbished 1971 VW micro bus is on the prowl everyday throughout Eugene and Springfield. And don’t be fooled by the bus. J.P. is an accomplished chef with formal training and extensive restaurant experience. Preview his cooking by checking out his roaming schedule on his blog and get a sandwich. http://devoureugene.blogspot.com/

Of course, we’ll have music. The Conjugal Visitors will bring their unique mix of Mountain Dance music, bluegrass, jazz, old-time country and jug/folk out for the afternoon.

Bring your kids. This is an event for the entire family. Everyone will be invited to walk through the garden and see the animals. Please be aware that this is a working farm and you will have to supervise the kids that you bring along.

And one more bit of news. Through a great partnership with Megan Kemple and the Farm-to-School program two second grade classes from Bethel Schools helped plant some of the vegetables we’ll be having for dinner. Megan took them on a field trip to the farm in June to plant some seeds and help out on the farm for the day. Some of them will come back with their families to join us for the One Field Meal. I’ve always wanted to use this event to show kids that food grows out the dirt. This year we’ll make it happen.

Every wonder which of our local food carts offers the best meals? Ever yearn for a cool beer to help wash down that freshly prepared sandwich just emerging from the dark recesses of the food wagon?

Here’s the answer to your deepest desires–Slow Food Eugene and Ninkasi Brewery bring you “Carts and A Cool One.” This is a cook off between cart vendors from all over the area. The vendors’ dishes will consist of at least 75 percent locally grown products. Proceeds of the event go towards the School Garden Project, the Farm to School Program, and sending local delegates to Terra Madre.

Each tempting 3-bite sample will be paired with an ale carefully selected by Ninkasi’s experts. You will be able to note how the distinctive melange of malt and hops in each ale interacts with the subtle nuances of the cart vendor’s delicacies.

Your only task will be to vote for your favorite cart. Ninkasi has donated the grand prize. The winner of this cut throat, no holds barred, slam down is an ad in the Eugene Weekly. There will be claw marks everywhere.

TICKETS: $15 packet–in advance from Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets will be available Friday, July 23.
$18 packet–at the door
$4 for individual tastes (only available at the door). Only packet holders will be eligible to vote.
Please bring cash for ticket purchases at the door. No checks.

During my recent trip to Ann Arbor I found that Slow Food concepts are alive and thriving in Michigan. My visit to the Saturday Farmers Market located in historic Kerrytown was an eyeful of seasonal flowers and veggie starts, organic dairy products, farm raised meats, and fresh baked goods. That’s right, I felt right at home. The marketplace was bustling with folks of all ages and persuasions selecting bedding plants for the season, sampling Zimmerman’s cheese, smiling at babies and feeling blessed that the last frost date of the season was only a week away. I followed up my Saturday market day with a Sunday cooking class. What a treat to spend a few hours with the highly talented chef Eve Aronoff of eve the restaurant, which is located around the corner from the farmers market. At her restaurant Eve focuses on local and seasonal ingredients combined with an accent on bold flavors that are full of contrast and surprise. However this class presented a more herbaceous palette of pesto risotto with seared halibut and English peas. The class was titled “An Early Spring Seasonal Menu”. It was inspiring, insightful and delicious. If you make it to Ann Arbor you MUST have dinner at the restaurant eve. If you can’t make dinner then consider investing in Eve’s cookbook which features recipes from the restaurant. Alice Waters offered this endorsement on the book “Eve Aronoff is deeply committed to the Slow Food movement. She buys the freshest, liveliest ingredients from local, organic farmers and cooks with simplicity and spice.” Or perhaps just stop by the local farmers market to peruse what’s fresh and prepare a creation of your own. And next time you’re at our Saturday Farmers Market here in Eugene stop by the Slow Food table and say Hi.